


Trick or Treating

by DeckofDragons



Series: Spooky Month 2019 Challenge [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Spooky Month Challenge 2019, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 06:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20961656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: Steven worries he might be too old to go out trick or treating.





	Trick or Treating

**Author's Note:**

> 16 isn't too old to go trick or treating, is it? I'm pretty sure the last time I went was when I was around 15 or 16.

It was well into fall; the leaves were various shades of orange and red as they fell and the air was getting cooler and cooler by the day. It was a _great_ time of year. And even better, Steven had nothing to do today, no gem business or anything else. And even _better_ than that Connie had nothing to do today as well. Freeing them both up to just hang out and do whatever they wanted to, a seemingly increasingly rare occurrence these days. But they were going to take _full_ advantage of it by wondering around Beach City and the beach for however long they felt like doing whatever they pleased.

Naturally with Halloween fast approaching, the town was getting ready for it. Halloween decorations were put up in many people’s yards and _all_ the stores in hopes of pulling business in. One such store they passed by had costumes prominently displayed on mannequins in the store window. They were _cool_ costumes too, a ninja, an astronaut, and a witch. Steven wanted one but…

“I’m uh… probably too old to go trick or treating this year, huh?” Steven said with a sigh as he stopped walking to look at them closer. For as far back as he could remember he’d gone trick or treating every year but not only was he sixteen now but with _everything_ that had happened to him and all that’d he’d done of his own volition since this time last year he felt much older too.

“Nonsense,” Connie said, bumping him lightly with her elbow. “We’re still young, if we want to go trick or treating, we can. All that stuff that happened on Homeworld and with the gems and Diamonds doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun sometimes.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’, let’s at least go inside and look around.” She linked her arm through his and pulled him into the store.

Initially Steven hadn’t planned on getting a costume, he told himself he was only going to _look_ at them. But then… he’d somehow ended up buying one anyway because Connie did and she suggested they should match so… it just kind of happened. But it was a cool pirate costume too so he couldn’t _really_ complain.

“Now that we both have costumes we have to use them for something, right?” Connie said as they exited the store and continued on their walk.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Steven couldn’t say ‘no’ to that logic, could he?

“It’s settled then? We’re going trick or treating for at least _one_ last time?”

“Uh… yeah! It’ll be fun.” They were still allowed to have fun even if they did need to occasionally save the world from one gem related disaster or another. Steven was almost mad at himself for almost letting himself forget that lesson. “We’ll make it a great year, best ever even.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“You guys look great,” Greg said as he lowered the camera. He took a picture of Steven in his Halloween costume every year, always the same spot at the bottom of the stairs in the living room too. “Very pirate-ty.”

“Thanks Mr. Universe,” Connie replied with a smile. She pulled off the pirate tricorn and jacket rather well. She’d talked about replacing the fake plastic sword with her real one but had decided against it, saying it wouldn’t match and that they probably wouldn’t need it anyway.

“Thanks Dad. We’re going to go now though.” Steven gestured towards the door as he and Connie started for it. “We’ll be back before midnight and we both have our phones so we’ll be fine,” he added mostly for Pearl’s benefit – she was sitting on the couch next to Garnet – since she had a tendency to be pretty neurotic about his safety sometimes.

“See you later,” Garnet called to them with a wave as they opened the front door.

“Have fun,” Greg added

Outside, the crisp, cool ocean air mixed with the smell of fall met them. The sun was starting to set but it wasn’t quite dark yet. They both had flashlights just in case they needed them but they probably wouldn’t; Beach City was pretty well-lit at night.

Lion sat on the porch, waiting for them and stood with a yawn and a stretch as they stepped out. Steven had tried hard to get him to put on a pirate hat to match him and Connie but he’d pawed it off every time and had eventually even started refusing Steven’s attempts to put it on. Steven had had no choice but to give up.

Connie pulled herself up onto Lion’s back first. Steven got up behind her, perhaps a bit closer than was really necessary. They wouldn’t be going fast, just a quick trot which _should_ be fast enough to get them to every candy giving house before midnight.

“Yo Steven!” Amethyst jumped up seemingly out of nowhere before Lion could take more than two steps on the beach after jumping off the porch. “Ready to get some free candy?” She’d shapeshifted to look like a stereotypical movie alien – big head and yes, little body, and antennas, only purple instead of green – her version of a Halloween costume.

“Um… yeah,” Steven said, forcing a smile. She went with him most years but… he’d been hoping it’d be just him and Connie this year. He couldn’t turn her away though, could he?

“Sweet, let’s go. Lead the way.”

“Hello Amethyst,” Connie said. “You… don’t have to come with us to supervise. We’re perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves and we have Lion with us so there’s no danger of anything bad happening.” Oh, good, Connie seemed to want it to just be the two of them too. But Amethyst would pick up on the hint?

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem she was going to as she scoffed. “I know that silly. I’m going because I want free candy too.” Which meant they were stuck with her. And that was _fine_, Steven enjoyed her company but… but… it was fine.

“Hey Amethyst!”

Steven turned his head to see Garnet standing in the open doorway, silhouetted by the light inside. “We’re watching scary movies,” she continued, calling down to them. “You should join us. Let Steven and Connie go off and have fun on their own for a while. You can go out for candy later.”

There was a beat or two of silence before Amethyst responded, letting her ‘costume’ dissolve as she did so. “Oh, it’s like _that_.” She turned her head to look at Steven and Connie again. “Why didn’t you two say so? You guys were really about to let me ruin your night, huh? Go, shoo, have fun, I’ll get my own free candy later.” She made a large shooing gesture with her arms. Lion either took it as an invitation to go or had finally gotten bored of standing there as he leaped up to start heading for town.

“Well, I guess _that_’s taken of,” Connie said a few seconds later when they were out of ear shot.

“Yeah uh… I guess it is.” Steven would maybe need to talk about it with Amethyst later, make sure she wasn’t offended by them not being honest with her about not wanting her to accompany them. He could worry about that later though. For now, he’d focus on getting as much candy as possible and having fun.


End file.
